2026-04-21 10:30
I enjoyed the quack honk. Gameplay was good and varied as you moved through the areas. Some challenge, overall very nice :)
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD59 → In Control
By melissal, TheWhiteShadow, PikaKimi and
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 541 | 3.42 | 21 | |
| Fun | 530 | 3.23 | 21 | |
| Innovation | 609 | 3.05 | 21 | |
| Theme | 200 | 4.10 | 21 | |
| Graphics | 596 | 3.34 | 21 | |
| Audio | 500 | 2.94 | 19 | |
| Humor | 400 | 2.82 | 19 | |
| Mood | 770 | 2.84 | 21 |
I enjoyed the quack honk. Gameplay was good and varied as you moved through the areas. Some challenge, overall very nice :)
This is a fun concept. I got stuck in the second level (couldn't get past the second honk sign, where the robot blocker goes to the left a bit too far for me to reach, couldn't figure out if there was another puzzle there)
It's a fun game! The best game I've played today. But sometimes, when you go close to the walls, you start to get stuck.
It is pretty interesting I really like how you taught people how to play. +1 for quack
(comment 1/2)
For a game that mentions being able to "explore freely", it felt more like an action-puzzle game where you have to activate the levers quickly and get to the next checkpoint/area before you run out of power. I think the general flow of the areas and the concept of the gameplay was solid, but I definitely had a lot of trouble getting into this one. I stopped just after the area with the long passage upward to the exit, which took about 20 minutes ish.
I appreciate that the game has controller support, though. I pulled out my gamepad for this one. I did notice that the "X" key on my Logitech (akin to an Xbox controller I think) was mapped to the Restart key, which made it too easy to accidentally restart.
After reading the description and controls, I found I had a lot of trouble figuring out what to do. The wall at the top at the beginning of the game did not seem to be a solid area, and I was trying to interact with the other objects that stood on the wall and kept dying. Eventually I did figure out that oh, you're supposed to hit the switches to progress.
I'm glad there were lots of checkpoints, because I found it was super easy to run out of power. I wish the game communicated this more clearly that there was a power level, and I'm not even sure if that's the case of those satellite signals around me were the cause of it. I think maybe some of the sound effects gave the implication that the controllable robot was dying, but there was nothing visually. I would have liked to see some kind of bar or a change in the character to show the passage from being at full power to death.
The puzzles were a bit on the simpler side, but I think it worked to the game's benefit having the time-based element to balance it out.
I also noticed that in later sections - the long vertical passageway up to the exit, for example - the respawning was super weird. The camera seemed to start from the left and then slowly pan to the right while the player actually had that window of time to control the robot and would lose time the moment the camera finished panning to that checkpoint. I also had some issues with respawning when I first played, where if I passed one of the earlier checkpoints (I think 2nd or 3rd) and died, it respawned me back at the very first, but my character was not present in the area and I had to completely refresh.
The main distinctive element I could think of from the game was the the addition of the little barrier robot that you had to go up to in order to interact with it and chase it away. The sound effect choices for it were kind of silly. Other than that, it did seem like a somewhat standard puzzle game, albeit with a pressure element to make the player execute the correct actions quickly.
On a tangent, I found that the signs mentioned the H key needed to be pressed to chase away the barrier robot, but there is nothing mapped to the gamepad I was using that seemed to trigger it. I pressed every button I could think of, but none of them seemed to be the equivalent of the H key. So whenever the barrier robot came up, I would have to put down my controller and hit the H key.
At first, I thought the robot was being powered by the green intermittent satellite signals, but this did not seem to factor into the gameplay at all? I might have missed this, because it just seemed to be time-based. I did see the theme in the sense that you have to interact with these levers and they "signal" to trigger other elements in order to progress, though I'm not certain if this was the intention of integrating the theme.
I like the details in the background tiled elements, and the green signal waves stand out. The robot seems a bit stocky, which is an interesting design.
(comment 2/2)
Since stock music was used (I notice Pixabay was credited for both tracks), the entry should opt out of the Audio category for ratings. Stock music is allowed in the jam, but the Audio rating is assuming you created all the audio within the jam timeframe.
As a general comment, I did feel the in-game music was quite distracting for the game. The hard-hitting music with the drop moments didn't feel like it complemented the graphics style or the gameplay and worked against them.
The Humor category does not seem completely applicable to this game, unless the little "quack" from the barrier robot was intended as the humour. I mean the robot was cute, but that sfx and the tone of the game/gameplay/story didn't really feel like it was all that funny to me.
As mentioned in the Audio section, I did feel like the music clashed with the style of the graphics. I wonder if it was chosen to sound "mysterious", as it does have a bit of that tone to it but in a very aggressive way. The composition of the track felt like it was a completely different mood to what the rest of the game was going for. I guess personally, pixel-art styles typically you would expect more chiptune, but it doesn't necessarily have to be that. Still, I think the gameplay music could have been a little more in the background, as I did personally feel like the gameplay music really was my main obstacle in giving this particular category a more positive rating.
An interesting interpretation of the signal theme. I liked the robot that blocks your path — this mechanic could be used to build many more engaging puzzles. Excellent work!
@random-storykeeper Thank you very much for your huge feedback! We will talk about it in the team and will use your feedback alongst the others to improve "in control"!
Nice puzzle game, cool feature with moving signal towers. Liked to play it <3
Due to the presence of "action" tag, character often get stuck at the corners of the levels due to collision issues, which somewhat affects the gaming experience. In the later levels, it might be because of level bugs or respawn point bugs that I fail to fully enjoy the game. However, the puzzle-solving part of the levels is still well-designed.
Thanks for all the Replies. I have fixed some mayjor issues with the checkpoints and the player collision.
Solid audio and art style. Quite interesting take on the theme. The movement could use some more polish and a little more feedback when you leave the signal would be great. Overall, it is a nice game. Good job! :D